Justin is sick today, so Demetrius Wren and Christina Ghubril join the show to talk about their new film "Streetball." It's the story of a group of homeless South African kids who try to break out of the cycle of poverty by competing in the Homeless World Cup. After some calls about "1984" and convergence, we talk a bit about some unusual uses of bacon flavor.
The most amazing part of "Streetball" was that it was entirely written, shot, edited, directed, and produced by two people! It's a full-length transcontinental movie made possible with only a couple of laptops and some prosumer cameras that have really leaped toward professional film cameras. Demetrius points out that it would not have been possible to shoot their film with a huge camera crew and big pieces of equipment.
The movie is a really fascinating look at how South Africa has changed and not changed since the end of apartheid. The pair says the film is on track for a June-July 2010 release, so be sure to check it out. (Side note: "Streetball" is sponsored by the From Us with Love charity. Be sure to donate!)
After the break, we get to some voice mails about how George Orwell's dystopian future may already be here. That means it may be a normal thing this time next year for Big Brother to know exactly what you purchased at Wal-Mart and that you spend way too much time at the bar down the street.
Last story of the day is about bacon--oh, that delicious food of the gods! Jeff the Hypochondriac thinks bacon-flavored envelopes just might be enough to get him to lick his envelopes closed again. Meanwhile, an intrepid live listener of the show shows us some bacon-flavored chapstick along with some bacon-flavored...personal...lubricant. Yeah, the show ends on that note today.
Side note: We changed the way we're naming our shows in the blog. This is probably going to result in some confusion and backlash. It was done to please the Internet gods.
EPISODE 470
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Watch what you say. Scientists in England have developed a computer that can not only read lips, but can tell the difference between languages.
Mouth movements can differ according to the language spoken.
(Credit: University of East Anglia)Researchers at the University of East Anglia's School of Computing Sciences developed the technology by statistically modeling the lip motions of 23 bilingual and trilingual speakers. The resulting system is able to identify the language spoken by an individual with "very high accuracy," according to the university. Identifiable languages included English, French, German, Arabic, Mandarin, Cantonese, Italian, Polish, and Russian.
What gives you away? The movement of your articulators--when you wag your tongue, jaw, and lips, you are generating the measurable characteristics of visual speech, the recognition of which is known as lip reading. Computer vision has already been used in lip reading, or "feature extraction," but this is the first time computers have been "taught" to recognize different languages, according to UEA (PDF).
"This is an exciting advance in automatic lip-reading technology and the first scientific confirmation of something we already intuitively suspected--that when people speak different languages, they use different mouth shapes in different sequences," said Professor Stephen Cox, who led the research along with Jake Newman. "For example, we found frequent 'lip rounding' among French speakers, and more prominent tongue movements among Arabic speakers."
The discovery could have practical uses for the deaf, law enforcement, and military units serving overseas, the researchers predict. With a little fine tuning it may also help you figure out what language your teenager speaks.
The new Xbox 360 dashboard
(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET News)
The E3 conference opened Monday in Los Angeles with a press conference from Microsoft. Here are some highlights.
Microsoft showed off first-ever game play footage from the post-apocalyptic title Fallout 3 and announced that there will be downloadable content exclusive to Xbox Live. We saw real-time action from Resident Evil 5, shipping on March 13. We got a peek at the new co-op feature in the game, where players will be able to team up and make their way through together. Developer Square Enix also made announcements that included the release of four titles for Xbox 360 including Final Fantasy XIII.
Complete E3 coverage
but that doesn't mean Microsoft
and others aren't making noise.
As for console exclusives, we saw in-game action from Fable 2, shipping in October. Players will be able to seamlessly invite other friends who are also playing the game. Finally, we were blown away by the impressive game demo of Gears of War 2 shipping November 7. The game actually looks better than the original and will feature a five-player online co-op mode.
Microsoft will be releasing a new dashboard interface this fall that incorporates an avatar system--the Xbox answer to Nintendo Mii characters. The new feature allows you to join up with other friends to form a "party," a group of up to eight people where you can share multimedia items or start a game. A new mode called Primetime will actually incorporate real-life TV shows like 1 vs. 100 and allow Xbox Live members to play and watch these game shows and possibly even win real prizes.
Microsoft also announced ... Read More
(Credit:
Brando)
OK, we admit this is really stupid. But we're all about accessorizing here at Crave, and we know that there's no accounting for taste. So for those who are drawn to such items as the "Lips Phone" and the "KissPhone," we feel obligated to pass along this "USB Mini-Lips Speaker" from Hong Kong's Brando (of course) to complement the ensemble. The 2-watt speaker connects to anything with a 3.5-millimeter jack and is small enough to be worn around the neck as an ill-advised fashion statement. An unsolicited word of advice: If it starts to talk back, we suggest keeping it to yourself.
(Credit:
PROinvention)
We're dubious about the authenticity of this purported concept, but it may out of an overwhelming sense of denial. It's just too depressing--and disturbing--to think that someone would actually come up with this idea, let alone find a market for it.
The "KissPhone" is a device that supposedly does its best to duplicate the buss of an acquaintance with an "artificial mouth," according to its inventor, who happens to be based in Paris. (No comment.) "This KissPhone detects percussion speed, pressure, temperature, and sucking force of the lips, when you kiss it," according to PROinvention.
So the theory is that you can get an accurate "kiss" even while long distance, according to Slippery Brick, as long as the person on the other end has a lip phone as well. PROinvention even envisions a way to download samples from an online inventory of kisses from such celebrities as Madonna. Maybe there's a market for this after all.
(Credit:
Brando)
Valentine's Day is six months away, but we sense a disturbing trend already in the works. Just yesterday we mentioned the nauseating "I Love You" mouse, a heart-shaped gadget that professes its feelings for whomever lays hands on it. Today, we see that the weirdos at Hong Kong-based Brando appear to be in an amorous mood as well (shudder) with the "Lips Phone," a Warhol-esque retro throwback to the '60s in, of course, a pink gloss finish. We're just thankful that it's a land line, so we don't have to witness people walking around the streets with these things.
(Credit:
FabStuff)
If you've decided that you actually like creepy gadgets like eyeball-shaped speakers, you might find the following item a perfect accompaniment for you Addams Family household: a speakerphone with mechanical moving lips.
Going by the deceptively innocuous name of the "Hands-Free Desk Lips," this nightmare-inducing device clips onto any mobile handset and reacts accordingly when the caller begins to talk, according to Uber-Review. What makes it weirder still is its flat, eyeless head, which makes it look something like a miniature monster from Alien. Maybe that's why it goes so well with the eyeball speakers. If it needs repairs, does it take metallic ChapStick?
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